Envy at Work Article Summary Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Envy at Work Summary - Article Example Because envy is generally considered a negative emotion, individuals repress these feelings. Still, these repressed feelings of envy emerge in harmful ways. Menon and Thompson’s research suggests, however, that it is possible to avoid being consumed by these feelings and to implement them to one’s advantage. In further considering the ways that envy emerges and is impactful, Menon and Thompson examine a hypothetical instance involving Scott and Marty. While these individuals were once strong friends, this gave way. While Marty was the better performer, Scott’s personality and social network helped him advance his career at a more rapid rate. This caused significant envy; this envy subsequently started to detrimentally impact Marty’s work performance. Most notably, Marty demonstrated disparagement and distancing. One of the main recognitions was that individuals pull away from others they envy because they feel the emotion more intensely with those they are close to. This distancing then directly impacts functionality and success within the organization. One notable example was that individuals were more willing to accept a project idea if it emerged outside the organization rather than within. The main recognition in these regards was that individuals within the organization worried that by adopting a project from a colleague they would lose status. In this way the colleague would be deemed the intellectual leader. This then costs the organization more money as it is less efficient to adopt ideas from outside the organization than to implement them internally. This is recognized as occurring in a real world example through the restaurant Fresh Choice. While the restaurant appreciated the menus and dà ©cor of a rival restaurant, after acquiring this rival opinions changed. The recognition then became that this newly acquired entity was not as chic as originally determine; this then resulted in the creative professionals leaving the organization. As a